Applying a few painfully learned lessons

With only a few more battles to close out my tier III Dragoon 90 and open up the tier IV LAV-300, I figured I would just tie off this loose end and move on up.

Now, I am very familiar with how tracked vehicles can perform and maneuver, I have experienced this in spades through World of Tanks and War Thunder Ground Forces. The wheeled variety, not so much, since I keep forgetting I have to be moving before I can turn. Tracked vehicles don't suffer from this....inconvenience. However, I am determined to make this work for me, especially after the events from earlier today....

In case you haven't heard, I took my tier VII Challenger 1 into a PvP match, where I was shown I don't currently have the skills to be remotely competitive at the higher tiers. Read more of that here http://tankingtalesquesnel.blogspot.ca/2016/03/state-of-play-armored-warfare-pvp_11.html

I have seen the tier IX B1 Draco used before, mostly in PvE and more often than not, it's the vehicle putting out the highest damage and collecting the most kills when one is on my team. And, after my humbling experience in PvP, perhaps it's time to take a serious look at an alternative and change in playstyle.

Lady Luck was kind and let me finish of the Dragoon 90 on a high note. I do believe that I have never achieved these results before in this vehicle or any other tier III I have played yet. However, the LAV-300 bore a striking resemblance to something I have seen before....

Taken on strength in 1976, the Canadian AVGP's (Armoured Vehicle General Purpose) were based off the Swiss MOWAG Piranha I and came in three separate, but related models; the Cougar (pictured above, reconnaissance/fire support, in essence, a LAV-300 with a Scorpion turret), the Grizzly (armoured personnel carrier) and the Husky (armoured recovery vehicle).

While in Canadian service, the Cougar would see active operations in UNOSOM (1992 in Somalia), UNPROFOR (1992-1995, the Yugoslav Wars), IFOR (1995-1996 in Bosnia and Herzegovina), and SFOR (1996-2005 in Bosnia and Herzegovina). An unknown number of Cougars would be used domestically in 1990, for Operation: Salon, better known as the Oka Crisis.

Although all three AVGP variants were officially retired from Canadian service in 2005, their roles were effectively taken over by the Coyote (LAV-II) and the LAV-III, I have some friends who have shared their fond memories of their time with the Cougar with me. 

So, since there isn't a Cougar in Armored Warfare, I will make do with a tier IV LAV-300. Visually, they are pretty close to each other. The Cougar came armed with a 76 mm main cannon, the LAV is upgunned to a 90 mm. And, there are a few more minor differences between them, but let's put the comparisons down and move ahead.

So, with a LAV-III in my garage, I swapped out the commander for Sabrina Washington and queued up for the very first battle with it. How did it go? See for yourself here....